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St. John Chrysostom (4th century), “This parable is delivered against those who will not assist their neighbors with money, or words, or in any other way, but hide all that they have.” St. Jerome (4th century), “In the five, two, and one talent, we recognize the diversity of gifts wherewith we have been entrusted.” Origen (early 3rd century), “They to whom five talents were given, and they to whom two, and they to whom one, have diverse degrees of capacity, and one could not hold the measure of another.”
More from St. John Chrysostom, “Observe that not only he who robs others, or who works evil, is punished with extreme punishment, but he also who does not good works.” The servant who buried his talent is not seen as the hero of the parable here. St. Gregory of Nyssa (4th century), “Let him then who has understanding look that he hold not his peace; let him who has affluence not be dead to mercy; let him who has the art of guiding life communicate its use with his neighbor; and him who has the faculty of eloquence intercede with the rich for the poor.” All of these things – understanding, affluence, the art of good counsel, and the faculty of eloquence – were all viewed as talents, talents that should be used on behalf of God to help one’s neighbor, but which were instead buried by the wicked and slothful servant.
The earliest interpretation comes from Saint Clement of Alexandria who wrote circa 195:
The Savior reveals Himself, out of His abundance, to dispense goods to His servants according to the ability of each recipient. Thereby, His servants can increase them by useful activity and then return to account for them… [Paul says,] “The things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, the same you should commit to faithful men, who will also be able to teach others.” (ANF 2:229)
Saint Gregory the Great similarly understands the image of the master to point to Christ: “Who is the man who sets out for foreign parts but our Redeemer, who departed to heaven in the body he had taken on?” (ACC Ib:222) Likewise, Saint Cyril of Alexandria writes that it is Jesus Who ascends to a far country in heaven to return again (ACC III:293).
Origen, writing circa 245, asserts that “those who have received the ten talents are those who have been entrusted with the dispensing of the Word, which has been committed to them” (ANF 9:503). Saint Cyril writes that “to those who believe in him, the Savior distributes a variety of divine gifts” (ACC III:293). Augustine of Hippo reminds in Homily 94 that everyone is accountable for dispensing the divine gifts that Christ has entrusted to us (ACC III:295). Saint Gregory agrees: “There are some who, even without knowing how to probe into inward and mystical matters, use the natural gifts they have received to teach correctly those they can reach to strive for their heavenly home” (ACC Ib:223).
The same Gregory sees the “useless servant” as being justly punished for his being “unwilling to work with his talent” (ACC Ib:226)—an interpretation with which agrees the whole consensus of early commentators: Saint John Chrysostom (ACC Ib:227), Origen (ACC Ib:225; III:295), Saint Cyril of Alexandria (ACC III:293), and Augustine of Hippo:
We are well aware of the threats made by the Lord’s merciful “greed.” He is everywhere seeking a profitable return on his money. He says to the lazy servant, who wished to pass judgment on something he could not see, “Wicked servant, out of your own mouth I condemn you…” We could only lay out our Lord’s money. He is the one who will demand the interest on it, not only from this man but also from all of us. (ACC III:295)
Yes, these are two unbiblical practices that are common to most evangelicals. There is the invention of “optional” when the passage does not fit their concept of salvation. Of course there is no “list” in scripture of what is optional, and what is not so this is just a matter of modern opinion.
It is also common to say that such passages are for “post salvation crowns”, as you say, like merit badges for overachievers. However, this is also a concept foreign to the Apostles. These ideas emanate out of the effort to create an abbreviated Gospel (minimal needed to be saved) and the heresy of the “p” in Calvin’s TULIP. Since a person, once saved, is always saved, then everything after that is just icing on the cake.